Fire Ants

• Fire Ants can sting several times
• Male fire ants die soon after mating
• A fire ant queens’ lifespan is 7 years or more
• Fire ants are extremely aggressive, especially if their nest is disturbed
• The fire ant uses it’s antennae to hear, smell, find and taste food
• Fire Ants are reddish brown to black in color and are about a quarter inch long
• Fire ants were accidentally imported to the U.S. in the 1930’s via South America ships
• The ants themselves are reddish brown in color and roughly 1/8 to 1/4 inch in length
• One fire ant colony may have numerous queens, each with the fertility to lay up to 1,500 eggs per day
• Fire ant mounds may reach two feet in height and have been found to extend twenty feet into the ground
• Fire ants mate when the temperature is between 70 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, with peak times during the spring and fall months
• Once the queen has established a group of new workers, she continues to lay 100,000 to 300,000 eggs per year and can live for six or seven years

The post Ouch. What stung me? appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

• Fire Ants can sting repeatedly.
• Fire Ants look very much like ordinary ants.
• Fire Ants are reddish brown to black in color.
• Fire Ants feed mostly on young plants and seeds.
• Fire Ants are well-known for their venomous sting.
• Fire Ants are social insects, live in colonies and build mounds of loose soil.
• A Fire Ant mound may contain up to 300,000 ants.
• Some Fire Ant colonies have only one queen, whereas others have many.
• Fire Ants do not hibernate and are renowned for their ability to survive extreme conditions.
• Fire Ants were accidentally brought to the United States on a cargo boat from South America.

The post Fun Fact Friday – Fire Ants appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

The Pest Control Yard Service performed by our trained technicians includes a thorough inspection of the lawn to identify and evaluate any trouble spots, a recommendation best suited for your lawn’s specific needs and then treatment of the lawn with the most effective and environmentally responsible solution available on the market today.

The Pest Control Yard Service is designed to help control the most common types of lawn surface insects. By targeting pests in the areas where they live and breed, the Pest Control Yard Service protects your family, pets and lawn against infestations. Treatment is effective for 30 days.

Cost of the Pest Control Yard Service is based on 12,000 square feet of lawn.
Contact a Southern & Sovereign Pest Control representative today for more details or to schedule an appointment for your next application.

The post Southern & Sovereign Pest Control are Pleased to Announce a New Specialty Service appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

Taking precautions can help reduce the risk of infection related to serious diseases carried by ticks. Be aware of grassy unmanaged landscape, wooded or brushy areas to reduce the risk of tick bites. Some prevention tips include removing all brush and leaves, maintain and mow lawns short and have pesticide treatments applied in the spring or early summer along the edges of wooded yards and trails. Smaller than adults and difficult to see or feel, tick nymphs the size of a poppy seed are capable of carrying the same harmful diseases as adult ticks. After outdoor activities be sure to perform tick inspections of one’s entire body.

To avoid potentially severe complications seek medical care if you develop symptoms including, but not limited to, joint pain, muscle aches, fatigue, fever, headache, rash and or swelling.

Southern & Sovereign Pest Control specialize in tick extermination and management. To learn more about tick control management visit Southern & Sovereign Pest Control website for more information on the Pet Lovers Services.

The post Protect Yourself From Tick Bites appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

A small fraction of those bitten may have an allergic reaction to the fire ant venom. In the most extreme cases, even a few stings can result in the life-threatening condition known as anaphylaxis (Anaphylaxis is a severe, whole-body allergic reaction to a chemical that has become an allergen). Each year humans die as a result from fire ant stings.

Check out these fun facts regarding Fire Ants

• Fire ants are one of nature’s most fearsome cleaning forces.
• A red imported fire ant army can take down prey much larger than itself, and strip a carcass clean overnight.
• Dozens, even hundreds, of fire ants sting in unison—and this is what humans have come to fear.
• The ant bites down, and then stings, injecting a toxic venom that burns like, well, fire.
• Red imported fire ants were introduced to the United States in the 1930s, probably stowing away in ballast on a Brazilian cargo ship.
• Now they’ve spread across several southern states.
• The ants build large nests in the soil, and once established, are known to devastate the ecosystem around them.
• They’ve been known to radically reduce the number of animal species in a given area… sometimes eliminating them entirely—with the power of the swarm.
• Fire ants can aggressively take over an area and spread… like wildfire.

Pesticide applications, organic and otherwise, are the only proven effective method for control.  Many of us are leery of chemical intervention, generally with good reason, but the danger of leaving fire ants unmanaged far outweighs the danger from the pesticide applications necessary to eliminate the nests and queens.

Southern Pest Control will be running a special for the Pet Lovers Service. You can purchase our Pet Lovers Service for the low price of $219 during the month of May 2015. A $20 Facebook Coupon can be used for an additional discount to bring the total price to $199. This Special Price is $100 off our regular price of $299. The price of the service will be $219 for both current and prospective customers. The coupon can be downloaded and printed after the user likes either the Southern or Sovereign Pest Control Facebook Page. The Pet Lovers Service comes with a 1 Year Re-Service Guarantee. Please contact one of our friendly representatives at 1-800-627-0577 to schedule your appointment. This offer expires on May 31st, 2015.

The post The Fire Ant Sting appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

• Ants are attracted to electrical fields infesting water pumps, computers, air conditioners, and other electrical devices.
• The queen of a red imported fire ant colony can produce 1500 to 1600 eggs per day. She never leaves the nest. A healthy red fire ant queen can live up to seven years.
• Fire ants both bite and sting. Only their sting contains venom and causes pain.

Warmer spring weather dries the ground and with that we also begin to see ants emerge from their dormancy. I’ve been noticing more and more mounds and trails around the house, sidewalks, and parks. Fire Ants however have mounds you want to steer clear of. Certain species are more aggressive than others like the Red Imported Ant or Tropical Fire Ant.

When a mound is disturbed, sterile female worker ants rush to the surface and climb up on any vertical objects such as grass blades, sticks or legs of people or animals that are standing on or near to the nest and can begin to sting within 10 to 20 seconds after climbing upon victims. Medical problems occur when the sterile female worker ants sting and inject venom causing localized sterile blisters throwing one into anaphylactic shock and occasionally death.

What to know:
• If you live in an area where Fire Ants are commonly found, inspect your property routinely for signs. Take care not to stand on any nests or resources on which they are foraging like rocks or wood piles.
• Teach children and visitors about fire ants and their hazard.
• Wear protective clothing during outdoor activities, such as boots and avoid going barefoot or open shoes.
• Use insect repellents on clothing or footwear (these treatments can temporarily discourage foraging ants)

Our Fire Ant Specialty Service can help you control ants where they occur in areas used most frequently by people or pets.

Call or Click Today to Learn More
Southern Pest Control 1-800-627-0577 (For Homeowners in Maryland and Virginia)
Sovereign Pest Control 1-866-430-9801 (For Homeowners in Georgia, Tennessee and Texas)

The post Fun Facts: Fire Ants Sting within 10 to 20 Seconds appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

Illinois entomology professor and animal biology department head Andrew Suarez, conducted the study. He stated, “If you look at the records, you look at the history, you look at the old trading routes and you look at the genetics, it all paints this picture that this was one of the first global invasions, and it coincided with what could be the first global trade pattern of the Spanish,” Suarez said. “The ants from the introduced areas in the Old World are genetically most similar to ants from southwestern Mexico, suggesting that their source population came from this region.”

Another member of the study, Sara Helms Cahan, a University of Vermont biology professor went on to say “Invasive ants are a huge problem. Once they arrive, they establish really high densities in new habitats, with negative consequences for agriculture, native species and human quality of life,” Helms Cahan said. “Controlling them costs millions of dollars annually.” She also said without digital tracking and customs enforcement as we have today, it is difficult to track these events, however, “Luckily for us, however, it turns out that invasive species keep their own records of their history, encoded in their genomes.”

Visit Eurekalert.org to learn more about their research and findings see this article.

The post Fun Fact Friday: ‪‎Fire Ants‬ appeared first on Southern Pest Control.